TRI

Thurman Reconciliation Initiatives

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Faith-Based Resources for Conflict Transformation & Social Change
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TRI
c/o Prof. Thee Smith, Convener

P.O. Box 5606 Atlanta, GA 31107-0606 USA
Telephone 404/727-0636 Fax 404/727-7597

E-mail relths@emory.edu
http://www.emory.edu/UDR/handbook/smith.html
 

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What is TRI?
 

Thurman Reconciliation Initiatives
convenes a partnership of practitioners and scholars with decades of collective experience in religion & social change, including conflict transformation, intergroup reconciliation, diversity training, peer counseling, and violence reduction--all in religious and interfaith perspective.
 

Thurman Reconciliation Initiatives
researches and applies reconciliation resources that derive from, or are consistent with, the goals and ideals of religious communities and traditions in their own right.
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Our faith-based reconciliation repertory includes, for example, the communal healing practices of African American, Native American and other indigenous peoples, as well as Hebrew prophetism, Christian (eucharistic) communion, Islam's "greater jihad" (self-transformation), Hinduism's God/self-realization, and Buddhist compassion toward all beings.
 

Thurman Reconciliation Initiatives
provides training, consultations & facilitations to public, private, civic, educational, and religious organizations seek-ing reconciliation for polarized groups & conflicted parties.

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Who We Are

                                                    The Thurmans . . .
first of all were Howard (1899-1981) and Sue Bailey (1903-1996): the African American mystical philosopher, preacher-author, and his wife-colleague who established in (mid-40s) San Francisco the first intentionally interracial and interfaith congregation in the U.S., The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples.
 

                                                    The Thurmans . . .
also were among the first Americans (mid-30s) to visit Gandhi in India, consult about U.S. race relations and return to promote his nonviolent philosophy and practices, inspiring Dr. M.L. King, Jr. and the 1960s freedom movement.
 

                                                     The Thurmans . . .
today are former students, colleagues, and a new generation committed to update a unique legacy by actualizing our own visions of human reconciliation within and beyond our varied contexts, local and global.
 

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Some TRI Partners convened to date
 

Walter E. Fluker     Director/Editor, Howard Thurman Papers Project,
and The Leadership Center at Morehouse College, Atlanta

Marc Gopin     Adjunct Professor of Law & Diplomacy, Fletcher School for Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University, Boston

Rosemarie Harding     Co-Chair Gandhi-Hamer-King Center, Iliff School of Theology, Denver

Vincent Harding     Professor of Religion & Social Transformation, & Co-Chair, Gandhi-Hamer-King Center, Iliff School of Theology, Denver

Mozella Mitchell     Professor of Religious Studies, University of Florida, Tampa

Alton B. Pollard     Director of Black Church Studies, Assoc. Professor of Religion & Culture, Candler, Emory Univ., Atlanta

Marcia Y. Riggs     Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia

Luther E. Smith     Professor of Church and Community, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta

Theophus Smith     Assoc. Professor of Religion, Emory; TRI Convener

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Our Goals and Services
 

Research
Discovering, retrieving, correcting and advancing the conflict transformation resources already available in religious communities and traditions themselves

• Analyzing conflict situations and providing consultations based on transformative reconciliation models: i.e., mediation designs that not only resolve conflict but also transform conflicted relationships

Design

• Designing reconciliation programs, forums, and formats for community organizations, schools, non-governmental organ-izations, local government, businesses, and religious groups

 

• Developing curricula, training materials, and course practicums for both introductory and advanced courses, seminars, and workshops

 

• Conducting dialogue groups, mediation events, and reconciliation processes for diverse ethnic, religious, civic, and professional groups

 

• Assisting groups and organizations to conduct self-study and external reviews that incorporate reconciliation perspectives and integrate relationship transformation approaches in their assessments.

A Sample of Our Diverse Resources
 

Publications

• Marc Gopin, Jewish Civics: A Tikkun Olam/World Repair Manual; co-authors Rabbi Mark Levine & Rabbi Sid Schwarz (New York & Wash-ington, D.C.: Coalition for Advancement of Jewish Education, 1994).
• Mozella G. Mitchell, ed., The Human Search: Howard Thurman and the Quest for Freedom: Proceedings of the 2nd Thurman Convocation (Univ. South Florida, 1990).
• Alton B. Pollard, Mysticism and Social Change: The Social Witness of Howard Thurman (New York: P. Lang, 1992).
• Marcia Y. Riggs, Toward a Mediating Ethic for Black Liberation: Ethical Insights of Black Female Reformers of the Nineteenth Century (Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI, 1991).

Lectures

• Walter Earl Fluker, "Waiting & Listening for the Sound of the Genuine: The Legacy of Howard Thurman as Critical Resource for Ethical Leadership"
• Theophus (Thee) Smith, "Eucharistic Social Change: A Concise Theology and Practice"

Research

• Marc Gopin, "Mennonite Conflict Resolution Practice," Sponsored Research, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), 1995-96
• Thee Smith,"Nonviolence Modeling and Religious Diversity: A Research Invitation," Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University, October 18, 1993

Consulting

• Walter Earl Fluker, consultant on ethical leadership, civility in society, and the black church as national resource, etc., in settings as varied as Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Dreamworks filmmaker's conversations on the Prince of Egypt
• Vincent and Rosemarie Freeney Harding, consultants & advisors since 1961 for scores of churches, synagogues, schools, community organizations and other groups, on issues such as: Healing, Personal & Social Transformation, Spirituality & Social Responsibility, Racism, M. L. King, Jr., The Southern Freedom Struggle, Democratic Renewal

"There are two essential benefits to exploring a relationship between religion and conflict resolution theory. First, there is a vast reservoir of information in sacred texts on peacemaking and on prosocial and antisocial values that affect conflict. This literature contains a litany of individual struggles with the inner life that have led either toward or away from a violent disposition . . . Second, religion plays the central role in the inner life and social behavior of millions of human beings, many of whom are currently actively engaged in struggle . . . With this understanding there might be more productive interaction between religious communities and conflict resolution strategies."

Marc Gopin, "Religion, Violence, and Conflict Resolution," Peace & Change 22:1 (Jan. 1997):2.

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How to contact us . . .
 

TRI
or
Thurman Reconciliation Initiatives
 

c/o Prof. Thee Smith, Convener
P.O. Box 5606 Atlanta, GA 31107-0606 USA
 

Telephone 404/727-0636 Fax 404/727-7597
E-mail <relths@emory.edu>
 

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